


Liability

by MeganRosenberg



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt Prompto Argentum, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Panic, Prompto Argentum Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: Prompto gets injured during a seemingly inconsequential battle while focusing on watching Noctis's back over his own. He worries that he's hurt, but more than that, he worries that everyone will be angry with him for being reckless. Again.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

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Maybe it wasn't a great idea to rush into this. Perhaps over the past few days of win after win, very few injuries beyond a scrape or bruise, the group had gotten too confident. It felt like failure wasn't even a possibility at this point. At least, to Prompto it did...

These wolf-like creatures - though somewhat unfamiliar to Prompto - didn't seem like much of a threat. They weren't huge - they were bigger than a human, but not by that much... barely bigger than Gladio, really. Nothing obviously dangerous and terrifying like a behemoth or catoblepas. As far as monsters and daemons were concerned, they were small, seemingly not a big deal. There were about a dozen of them, but they weren't that big. For a group of four, it seemed like a minor inconvenience more than anything else. They could each take care of three... Quick and easy. It wouldn't be a big deal... Every single one of them had been up against something similar before and got through it without a problem.

It didn't take long though for Prompto's confidence to waver. After taking down only one himself, he was left breathless, sweaty, a bit scratched up... and he was even trying to fight from a distance with his gun! He didn't even intend on getting close... but the monsters had other ideas - and his friends didn't seem to be faring well either. For once, Prompto seemed to have taken down one of the enemy before any of his friends had. But he didn't have time to feel proud over that fact. They were still very much outnumbered, and it was beginning to look like they might indeed be outmatched as well.

These fiends were quick. They were able to dodge a lot of attacks and lunge back at their opponents with sharp, potentially deadly movements. Their teeth and claws were huge, very pointy, and the speed, ferocity, and strength behind their snapping jaws and viciously swatting limbs was honestly terrifying.

With a sharp gasp, Prompto stumbled back as one of the creatures lunged toward him. He fired his weapon, either missed or hit it where it didn't matter, then fell back onto the ground beneath him. He felt sharp stones digging into his hands as he landed. Dust had been kicked up by both his companions and the monsters they were battling, making visibility and breathing a bit more difficult. The whole area was a chaotic mess.

As he scrambled up onto his hands and knees, looking out over the scene with a breathless wince, Prompto contemplated yelling out, suggesting that they flee. He didn't want to be the one to say it, but they were clearly in over their heads

Gritting his teeth together and stumbling forward as he climbed to his feet, Prompto couldn't help but to scream at what he saw before his eyes, across the field. "Noct, get down!" He called out, raising his gun up to aim at a creature presently charging right for his best friend.

Noctis stared back with wide, shocked yes, clearly unaware of what Prompto saw, but shrinking down aimlessly anyway as Prompto fired his shot, hitting the creature where it counted right as it leaped into the air toward the prince.

With a sharp hiss, Noctis raised his arm up to block the creature from hitting him as it fell. It seemed Prompto noticed just in time, and took it down not a second too soon. He hardly had time to feel relieved though. There were still eight or nine of the creatures still up and moving.

"Prompto!" Noctis suddenly screamed back.

Before the younger man had a chance to even wonder what his friend was yelling at him for, he felt a sharp pain in his arm, as jaws clamped down over the limb, viciously tugging him backward, off his feet.

Prompto let out a startled scream and accidentally dropped his gun as he was dragged rather harshly down against the ground, for a moment hardly even feeling the pain as his attacker dragged him backward, its teeth tearing viciously into the flesh of his arm.

Gritting his teeth as he twisted his body in and effort to reclaim his gun, Prompto realized the monster had dragged him too far away from it. He had no weapon... He breathed in a shaky breath as he saw the gun lying several yards away, but really had no way to get to it. Not with his arm so securely trapped in his aggressor's jaws.

"Get off of me!" Prompto screamed, balling his free hand into a fist and punching out at the creature's face. That seemed to only anger it more, as it clamped its jaws closed even tighter, making Prompto's arm throb in pain as a pained cry tore through his throat.

"Help Prompto!" Ignis's voice shouted to perhaps no one in particular as he was having a bit of trouble dealing with his own corner of this fight. "Someone go help Prompto! Now!"

"I can't get to him!" Noctis called out, fighting back against another of the creatures who had lunged toward him on his way over. "Gladio, can you reach him!?"

Letting out another pained, frightened cry, Prompto grabbed at the monster's jaw, trying to just pry it off of himself with his hand. He no longer had the tools to really fight the monster off - to kill or hurt it... but he could at least try to free his arm and flee. That seemed to be just about his only option at this point - to run... but only if he could get his arm free.

"Hold on, Prompto! I'm coming!" Gladiolus called out from somewhere that sounded painfully far away. "Hang tight, kid. I'm on my way!"

Still grimacing painfully, Prompto put all of his strength into trying to pry the monster's jaws open with only one hand, whimpering and squeezing his eyes shut when it just bit down harder, grazing his fingers with its teeth as blood dripped down out of its mouth. It was so horribly painful, but even more terrifying. What if it bit his arm off? What if he bled to death?

"Help me!" Prompto sobbed as he felt the creature drag him back even further, shaking its head, then pulling him down under it, raising up a clawed limb and swatting viciously down across Prompto's chest.

"Noct! Iggy!" Prompto screamed, moving his free arm up over his face and head in an attempt to protect himself, or at the very least, cover his eyes so he didn't have to watch as this thing gutted him. "Gladio, help me!"

He felt like such a failure - like a liability... Everyone else was still on their feet, fighting, defending themselves and each other, taking out the enemy one by one... He couldn't. He needed them to stop fighting for themselves and waste their time on him. He didn't want to steal all the focus from the battle and put everyone at risk for his own sake, but he didn't want to die either. He needed help. He'd gotten in over his head. He screwed up, he was hurt, and he couldn't get out of this on his own. Everyone could be mad at him later. He deserved it. He could be embarrassed and ashamed later... but for now, he just needed to get out of this, and he couldn't swing it on his own. He needed someone to do it for him.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk down, trying to make himself as small as possible as he felt the vicious animal attacking him bite down on his one arm again and swipe its claws across his body again, this time hitting his arm more than his chest, and seemingly at least shallowly so. A pained, frightened whimper choked him up as the creature clamped its jaws down even harder, raising its clawed limb up again, ready to slash down. It was only a matter of time before it hit something important and killed its prey...

Just when he was pretty sure he was about to have his heart clawed out of his chest, Prompto felt the weight lifted off of him. He opened his eyes with a small shaky breath in time to see Noctis swinging his weapon, knocking the monster back off of his younger friend.

Within seconds, Ignis had rushed up as well, grabbing at the boy's arms, dragging him up onto shaking legs and pulling him back. Gladio rushed up next, knocking back another of the creatures while raising his arm up as though to shield the other members of their group while he kept their enemies at bay.

"There's too many!" Ignis commented, his voice calm, yet serious as usual. "Prompto's already hurt. We need to get out of here. Let's not risk life and limb any more than we already have. Not for such an inconsequential battle."

Prompto couldn't even bring himself to speak, to thank his friends for saving him... to ask if they thought he was going to be alright, to ask them if they were alright. He didn't feel safe yet. He was still so out of breath, shaky, panicked, in so much pain.

He made the mistake of briefly glancing down at his arm for a second as Ignis dragged him back away from the scene. All he saw was red before he quickly looked away, closing his eyes with a frightened wince and swallowing a nervous gulp. He felt like he was going to throw up. What if his arm was too damaged to even function at this point? What if they had to amputate it?!

"Let's go! Fight off the ones you need to fight off. Otherwise, it's time to run." Ignis ordered, shrugging out of his jacket and hastily wrapping it around Prompto's heavily bleeding arm. "Hold this tight, Prompto." He whispered in a low voice, seemingly trying to remain calm, but his tone also indicated the seriousness of the situation.

Prompto reached up with shaky fingers, trying to put pressure on his injury as he struggled to even remain aware of the situation. His breaths were so short. He felt lightheaded. He wasn't even sure if he was walking on his own anymore. Everything was dark, almost numb, yet still painful. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears it was the only thing he could hear for a moment.

He felt Ignis's arm around his back as the man dragged him along quicker than he was capable of keeping up with at the moment. He couldn't even see where they were going... He was breathing so hard, but still felt like he wasn't getting any oxygen. He felt breathless, panicked, like he was somehow drowning without even being near water.

Voices around him were still going. It sounded like Gladio and Noctis were still fighting off the enemy... but he wasn't sure. Everything was so muddled. Ignis was speaking to him too. He could make out that much, maybe if only because the man was so close.

"You'll be fine, Prompto. Stay calm." Ignis spoke, his voice even and low. He always knew how to remain stoic under pressure. Prompto did not. In the younger man's mind, he might literally be dying right now. If Prompto was in Ignis's place, with Ignis injured, bleeding, maybe close to death, Prompto didn't think he'd be able to be calm.

"Ig-" Prompto whimpered, cutting himself off with a shaky breath and squeezing his eyes closed. He felt tears dripping down his cheeks. He wasn't sure if they were because he was scared or hurt. He wasn't even sure he could separate the pain from fear at this point. He just knew his emotions were so piqued at the moment that he could barely breathe, barely get his legs to function. He was stumbling after Ignis was the chef dragged him along. He couldn't see a damn thing and wasn't even sure if he'd open his eyes back up or not.

"Just keep moving. Use your legs. They're not hurt. You can still run. Use them, Prompto. We'll get you out of here safe, but you've got to keep moving." Ignis advised.

Letting out a shaky, breathless sob as he tripped over his own feet, Prompto tried to keep up, tried to help them help him. They'd saved him and he was still slowing them down - incapable of even running on his own. His legs weren't hurt... Why was he having so much trouble? Was he that panicked? That he forgot how to even use his damn legs? Why was he stumbling so much? Why was he moving so slowly? Was he going to get his friends killed while they tried to save him? He was so fucking useless.

They were probably all wondering whey they even brought him with them at this point. Maybe they'd give up if they had to, leave him here to save themselves... He wouldn't blame them. If the monsters kept attacking and they had to all either run and be safe, or stick behind and drag him along and risk everyone being killed, it would make sense to just leave him. He wouldn't be mad if they chose to do that. He'd understand...

"I'm sorry..." Prompto gasped between shaking, tearful breaths as he stumbled forward. His vision was grey at the edges. His ears felt hot and his lungs felt stuck shut.

"Don't be sorry." He heard Noct's voice and felt a hand on his arm. His friend must have been jogging along next to him and Ignis. Prompto didn't even notice the other man was there.

"Noct?" Prompto choked, looking toward the voice and seeing a hazy version of his friend through the grey veil currently covering his world. "I'm sorry... I screwed up... I c- I can't do this... I can't walk... I'm... I-I can't breathe..." He sobbed.

"You're okay... Just calm down..." Noct didn't sound so sure though. "I think we lost them... We're gonna be fine. Take a breath, man. Don't panic. Just breathe and keep moving. You're gonna be fine."

Prompto shook his head and let out another shaky cry as he tripped over a root, or his own foot, or something, and nearly fell forward.

Ignis's strong arms around his shoulders kept him from hitting the ground, but walking along with the man's quick stride was becoming increasingly difficult. Especially with his vision clouding over and his lungs feeling like they weren't expanding quite right. His breaths were so quick and shallow. He didn't feel like the air was going into him enough for it to even matter...

"Ignis, he can't keep up..." Gladio noted, his voice sounding far away. "He's hyperventilating..."

"We've got to go. We don't have time to entertain terror and panic." Ignis shot back. He sounded far away too, even though Prompto knew there was no way that was true. "The way I see it, we have two options: I drag him along with us or we wait here and let ourselves get killed."

"I'll carry him." Gladio offered, reaching out and grabbing Prompto, easily hefting him up in his arms, holding one arm around his shoulders and the other under his bent knees.

"You sure you can still run and carry him at the same time?" Ignis asked.

"It's no sweat." Gladio promised, hugging Prompto securely against his chest as he jogged onward. "Stay with me, kid." He grumbled.

Prompto felt a shiver flow through himself as he hugged his injured arm protectively against his chest, pressing the jacket Ignis had wrapped around it down as firmly as he could. He couldn't even bring himself to look at the injury again. When he saw it before, it was so brief, and he'd looked away as soon as he saw red... but of course there was red. He knew he was bleeding at the very least. He should have just looked better the first time. He couldn't do so again. Not now. Not while he was completely panicked. He didn't know for sure how bad it was, and he was scared to find out.

"Are we almost there?" Prompto whispered, swallowing a difficult, painful gulp. He still felt so lightheaded, so numb. His arm and chest where he'd been bitten and clawed stung so much at first. It didn't really even hurt that bad anymore. Maybe he was dying...

"We're close." Ignis responded.

Prompto let out a slower, shaky breath, feeling himself start to calm down just a little, just knowing they were almost back to camp, that his injuries would be mended and he'd hopefully be okay. Maybe it was because he didn't have to worry about keeping up anymore. He felt like his vision was becoming a bit less cloudy too, and the numbness was fading very slowly as well. That meant he was feeling more of the pain... but at least it didn't seem like he might literally be dying.

Now that he was a bit more aware of his surroundings, a bit more present in the moment, he looked up at Gladio's face as the man pulled him close to his chest and rushed forward. "Iggy, you got the right bandages and potions to deal with this? He's physically shaking... He seems really out of it... and he's bleeding a lot..." The man called out, seemingly not even caring if such a blunt question and comment would scare Prompto. Did Ignis NOT have the right stuff to fix him? Was he really bleeding a lot? Was he shaking? He didn't even notice... Was he going to lose his arm? His life?

Prompto felt his lip quiver as he continued staring silently up at Gladio. Did the man think he had passed out? Was he just being honest now that he thought Prompto wouldn't hear him? Everyone else had been reassuring... Leave it to Gladio to be blunt and honest, to let him know - even if unintentionally - just how bad off he was.

"He will be fine, Gladio. I can even stitch him up if need be. We'll survive this. We always survive everything else. We'll get through this too." Ignis answered.

Prompto breathed in shakily, feeling tears stinging his eyes. Ignis probably only said that because he knew Prompto would hear him. Gladio was being honest, realistic, blunt. Ignis was being hopeful... unrealistic. He was saying what he knew Prompto wanted to hear... So he'd die at peace instead of dying terrified. Ignis was sparing his feelings... but unfortunately, Prompto couldn't fall for it - not after what Gladio had said.

Maybe this was truly how he was going to die - from a bite on the arm - from a lower-level, weaker enemy they thought they could beat, not taking into account the number of foes present... Prompto was going to actually die because this stupid monster - not much bigger than himself - bit his arm while he wasn't paying attention.

At least it wasn't Noctis, or Iggy or Gladio... At least if someone had to die, it was him - the most useless member of their group - the one who wasn't really needed... the screw up. Maybe this was the end for him... Maybe that was okay. The others would be fine without him.

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	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

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Once they got back to camp, things got even more hectic. Prompto kind of didn't expect that to be the case, but it was. For some reason, as they neared camp, he sort of started to feel like everything would be fine once they got there, like he only had to hold on until then. He sort of forgot they still had to deal with his injuries, and the way Gladio chose to deal with it was scary as hell - especially considering Prompto was afraid to even acknowledge his arm at all, and Gladio was seemingly more than eager to jump in and sort it out quickly...

"Noct, fetch me my first aide kit, please! It should be in the tent!" Ignis shouted as Gladio carefully lowered Prompto to the ground and knelt down beside him.

Ignis ran off to the side somewhere, maybe finding potions, clean water? Maybe he was getting tools to amputate his friend's arm. Prompto didn't know... He just knew Gladio was the only one very close to him at the moment, and the older man wasn't respecting his personal space at all. As usual, he was being quite blunt.

Prompto inhaled a sharp breath and shrunk down as Gladio reached toward his arm. The man didn't even ask, didn't even explain what he was doing. He just reached out and grabbed toward the injured limb like he knew exactly what he was doing... But Prompto didn't believe his larger friend did know how to fix this. He was just being confident, in a scarily forceful way as he often did.

Tugging his arm back and holding onto it with his other hand, Prompto stared with wide eyes up at Gladio, subtly shaking his head no, refusing the older man's help. What was he going to do? Just start bandaging it up? What if it was really mangled? Would he try to reset bones, start stitching up any huge gashes, amputate without understanding what he was doing? He wasn't really much of a medic... Gladio was better at creating wounds than fixing them. When the hell had Prompto ever counted on Gladio to help him when he was hurt? Ignis was the guy for that.

"Prompto, move your hand." Gladio demanded, reaching for the boy's arm again.

Prompto shook his head and shrunk back again, holding the jacket Ignis had wrapped around his arm there even more securely than ever. He looked wildly around the camp for a brief few seconds, trying to find Ignis. He needed Ignis... Now.

"Let me see your arm, Prompto!" Gladio shouted, bringing Prompto's attention back and grabbing toward him again.

"No!" Prompto gasped, crawling backward. He didn't want to move the jacket. He didn't want to see what was underneath. He kind of only trusted Ignis to deal with it, and only barely... What he really wanted was to just tape the jacket to the limb extremely securely and never look at it again. He wasn't ready to deal with this - to see the damage in better light than he already had.

"Damn it, Prompto!" Gladio growled, grabbing at Prompto's hand and prying it away from the injury. "Hold still!" Gladio reached toward the jacket next, trying to untangle the twisted, bloody garment from around Prompto's arm. "We have to deal with this. You're not just gonna ignore this one, kid. Let me help you!"

"No!" Prompto screamed, pulling his arm back and balling his other hand into a fist. Maybe he was being unreasonable here - maybe he was the one freaking out, but Gladio was scaring him. He was being too forceful, too quick. "Don't touch me!" Prompto screamed, and without thinking, punched out across Gladio's jaw.

Prompto's eyes immediately widened as he shrunk down and stared up into his friend's face. Maybe he just screwed up... Gladio was known to have a bit of a temper, and was already frustrated with Prompto... and now Prompto was stupid enough to punch the man across the face...

Gladio let out a small growl as he glared down at the younger man, easily grabbing onto the fist the younger man had just hit him with and holding it in a firm grip. Maybe he was going to hit Prompto back. Maybe Prompto would deserve it if he did. Prompto shrunk down slightly, but didn't take his eyes off Gladio's face as he stuck his lower lip out in a pout and felt tears stinging at his eyes. He wondered if Gladio would hit him as hard as he could, or if he'd hold back. Of course, if the man hit him hard enough, Prompto wouldn't be able to keep Gladio from taking the jacket away and looking at his arm - because Prompto would be unconscious.

Prompto felt his breath hitch in his throat. Maybe that's what Gladio would do... Just hit him hard enough to knock him out. Prompto was being difficult, uncooperative... So Gladio would just have punch him out - force him to let the man access the injury. Maybe that was for the best - for Prompto to not be mentally present during this - so if his arm had to be cut off, he wouldn't be awake during it at least.

"Gladio. How about you take a step back... He's panicking... Give him some space." Ignis suggested with a hand on the larger man's shoulder.

Prompto felt his lower lip tremble as he stared through his tears up at Gladio. "I'm sorry..." He whispered.

Gladio simply shook his head, let go of Prompto, and walked off, quite clearly frustrated, but at least showing some mercy in choosing not to punch Prompto back.

Prompto shrunk in on himself, hugging his arm protectively against his chest again and started to sob as Ignis approached. He felt increasingly stressed, increasingly scared, panicked, and disappointed in himself with each passing moment. Gladio was trying to help him - it was scary, but Prompto understood that the man was only trying to help... And Prompto was a complete jerk about it...

"Prompto, take a breath." Ignis whispered, placing his hand gently on the younger man's back as he knelt down next to him. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I'll do everything I can to make you better, but you do need to calm down if you can. The worst of this is over. All we have left to do is treat the injury. We'll solve this, one way or another. I'll give it my full focus and effort. You know the only way I operate is efficiently and carefully. So just breathe. Trust me to help you and take some breaths."

Prompto sniffed. He could feel himself shivering. He wondered how much blood he had lost - if he was going to be able to survive it... He wondered if his arm was mangled beyond repair. He wondered if this was perhaps the one thing Ignis wasn't going to be able to solve. The guy couldn't perform actual miracles. Maybe Prompto was so injured he was going to die. How could Ignis fix a limb that was absolutely shredded? How could he save a man who had lost so much blood he hardly had any left?

"Okay?" Ignis continued speaking in his usual calming tone, moving his hand very slightly down Prompto's back. "That's all I need you to do. I'll take care of everything else, but you need to take a breath. I can't do that for you."

Nodding, Prompto stared into Ignis's eyes and inhaled a shaking breath, as deep as he could at the moment, which wasn't that deep, but still better than any other breath he'd taken since the monster attacked him. Maybe that's why he was so on-edge, so panicked... because his breathing for the last twenty minutes had been severely lacking.

"That's it. Keep breathing. Slow and steady. That's the best way to help yourself right now, while you let me do what I can to help you as well." Ignis smiled gently, rubbing his hand over Prompto's back. "You're okay... That was a harsh series of events, but we're out of the worst of it... We're safe now. No further injury will befall any of us tonight. We only have to patch up what was already done. This could have been a lot worse. The fact that you're still here, still breathing, focusing on me... That proves your injuries aren't that bad. Okay?"

Prompto nodded, still staring unwavering into Ignis's eyes. He didn't know how the man always stayed so calm, but he was glad for it now. Prompto was prone to getting a little worked up pretty easily, and obviously so was Gladio. Even though the larger man had meant well, his urgency mixed with Prompto's panic had produced a bit of unintended chaos.

"Very good. Now let's have a look at that arm." Ignis spoke, not bothering to ask permission, but moving slowly and cautiously as he reached for the injured limb and began very gently unwrapping the jacket from around it.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as his friend worked toward revealing his injury. He felt his throat tightening with further tears. The creature had bitten into his arm so hard, so viciously... What if the limb was in actual pieces? Shredded? Unsalvageable? What if pieces of it were still back there? With the monsters eating it...

Letting out a tiny whimper, Prompto squeezed his eyes closed tighter and shrunk down. What if his whole arm wasn't even there anymore? He wasn't sure if he remembered seeing all of it before... When he looked down before, he saw a lot of blood... He couldn't focus on anything but the red. Was the whole arm even there? He didn't know for sure.

"Shhh..." Ignis whispered. "Take another breath, Prompto." He instructed.

Keeping his eyes shut, Prompto nodded and breathed in a very shaky breath, which ended in a choked sob. He raised his uninjured arm up to cover his eyes, even though he didn't have them open anyway.

"Prom, you're okay..." Noctis's voice spoke from somewhere nearby as he felt his friend grab his hand, gently pulling his arm down away from his face. "It doesn't look that bad." Noctis sounded somewhat breathless, like maybe he expected the injury to be devastating too, and was honestly relieved right now.

Blinking, Prompto finally brought himself to look down at his arm as Ignis continued working on it. There were clear indications that teeth had bitten down on the limb and definitely some bruising and swelling around the wounds as well. Some of the teeth marks had dragged downward into sharp gashes, which still bled freely, but weren't gushing... The arm was in one piece. He didn't see muscle or bone protruding out. It really did just look like claw marks surrounded by bruises...

Prompto felt a small smile tug on the corners of his lips as relieved tears stung at his eyes. It wasn't nearly as bad as he had feared. At least, it didn't look bad... unless things were broken underneath...

"It isn't all that deep. I may suggest four or five stitches on this one. Two here." Ignis explained as he pointed toward a smaller gash. "Doesn't appear to be broken, and for that you're very lucky. I honestly feared much worse here..."

Prompto at least was beginning to feel like this wasn't the end for him. It wasn't fatal. His arm wasn't mangled beyond repair... Physically, he was going to survive this and be okay - completely back to normal in no time, maybe with a couple interesting scars, but otherwise fine.

But emotionally... he still felt horrible. He had screwed up, risked everyone else's safety by being reckless. He wasn't paying attention and got hurt. Everyone had to focus on him after - neglect their own safety and all focus on his. They were lucky his mistake hadn't gotten someone else killed.

"May I lift your shirt?" Ignis requested. "You've got some scratches across your chest I'm unsure you're aware of..."

Prompto nodded, trying to hold back his tears as his relief of being physically okay (more or less) let feelings of inadequacy and failure flood into his mind. He had jumped into that battle with such arrogant confidence. He was so stupid.

"These are far more shallow." Ignis noted as he carefully lifted Prompto's shirt and examined the scratches across his chest. "We'll still clean them. Watch for infection. As long as we keep both wounds clean and wrapped, we should be fine there as well. But these are indeed much more superficial than the ones on your arm. I assume you thought quick even under pressure to dodge a far worse outcome."

"I think I just got lucky." Prompto whispered, his voice shaking slightly as he swallowed back tears. He hadn't dodged shit. If his friends hadn't come in and rescued him, he would almost definitely be dead right now, solely due to his own incompetence.

"Cleaning and bandaging your chest should suffice, but the arm does need a bit more work." Ignis explained. "Nothing I can't handle."

Prompto closed his eyes, inhaled a small breath, and nodded. He could live with that. He wished he hadn't over-complicated everything and put everyone at risk tonight though. This fight had seemed so insignificant and easy... and he had screwed up, made everyone else put everything on hold and risk their own lives to save him. They really shouldn't have brought him along. They were probably just humoring him this whole time, letting him come so he didn't feel excluded... but he needed to be excluded. He was risking more than just his own life here.

"Prom, it's okay... You're gonna be okay." Noctis spoke from beside him, still holding his hand carefully in his own. "Don't cry. You're okay. Ignis knows what he's doing."

Prompto shook his head. He wasn't worried about his injuries anymore. Not so much. Noctis thought he was crying because he was scared, but really he just felt guilty at this point. "I could have gotten everyone killed, Noct." Prompto whispered.

"No..." Noctis shook his head.

"Yes I could have, Noct!" Prompto responded. "There was so much going on around all of us, and I took everyone's focus. We all needed to be paying attention to the battle. I wasn't paying attention. I screwed up. Then everyone had to deal with me instead of defending themselves. You guys could have won it if I wasn't there... While everyone was trying to save me, one of those things could'a grabbed someone else. You're all lucky I didn't get anyone else hurt."

Noctis frowned. "You saved me, Prompto." He noted. "You didn't notice the one behind you because you were watching my back. If you weren't there, I could have died. If anyone screwed up, it's me. You could have paid more attention to yourself if you hadn't had to save my ass."

"If I may, I'd like to stitch these up sooner rather than later." Ignis cut in. "No individual is at fault for this. We all rushed into something we were unprepared for. Mistakes happen. We won't let the same ones happen twice. Simple as that. No use fretting over it now. Let's just deal with the repercussions, move on, and learn from this."

Notcis nodded. "You're right." He agreed.

Prompto glanced over Ignis's shoulder, where Gladio was pacing around near the tent. He was probably still mad at Prompto for refusing his help, for freaking out and hitting him. Prompto was really lucky the guy hadn't hit him back.

"You'll be needing six stitches at the very least. We'll use a standard sewing kit, stitch you up, clean and bandage it of course, and remove the stitches in a few days once you've healed a bit." Ignis went on. "I have no numbing agent, so it may be quite painful..."

This caught Prompto's attention back. "You're gonna like sew up my skin? Just how you patch up holes in clothes? Like... with an actual needle?" He started to pull his arm back again. "It doesn't really have to have stitches, does it? Can't we just put a big band aide on it? It's not bleeding that much... H-how much blood loss is too much?"

Ignis smiled slightly and shook his head no. "I can put you to sleep first. I do have a potion for that. You wouldn't feel much..."

Prompto swallowed and glanced toward Noctis, silently requesting his advice. Did he really have a choice here? He wouldn't die without stitches, right? Maybe having a huge scar instead of a little one wouldn't be that bad... He didn't want to be sewn together like a torn shirt. That sounded awful, so painful and just horrifying. They were talking about his actual skin here, not a piece of cloth...

"You'll be okay." Noctis nodded reassuringly. "You'll hardly feel it if you're not awake, Prompto... Maybe not at all, and it won't hurt bad once it's done."

Prompto swallowed and glanced back toward Ignis. "Do I have to?"

Ignis frowned, raising his eyebrows and glaring down at the younger man as though Prompto had just personally insulted him. "You don't have to do anything, Prompto. I'm not your mother. I would advise it, to speed healing, reduce risk of infection... By all means, you're free to get up and walk away right now. I don't force medical treatment on the conscious... But I do feel it would be a foolish step to skip out of a fear of small discomfort."

"Geeze..." Prompto shrunk back slightly and pouted. "You don't have to be so harsh..."

"It's not harsh. It's honest." Ignis went on. "I'm not about to hold you down and drug you so I can force the medical treatment you need on you, but I won't lie and say either choice is equal. Your arm does need stitches to properly heal. You're an adult, even if you don't always act like one. This is your decision."

Nodding and closing his eyes for a moment, Prompto inhaled a breath. "Okay... I trust you, Iggy... J-just be careful."

"Of course." Ignis promised.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

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Blinking his heavy eyelids, Prompto exhaled a tired breath and looked up through somewhat hazy vision. He felt almost like he'd been drinking... a heavy, disoriented sort of feeling. He felt groggy, but also strangely warm and comfortable. The glow of a campfire surrounded his being. A cozy blanket had been draped over him and he was lying on a firm, but comfortable pillow.

He swallowed slowly as he stared up at the night sky for a moment. There were a lot of stars out. He could feel chill air on his nose and fingertips, but was so incredibly warm elsewhere, snuggled down under the blanket, lying near the fire... All taken care of like a child who was deeply loved, with caring, attentive parents. He felt a small smile pull at the corners of his lips as he continued looking up at the stars. His friends were kind of like a family to him - like brothers... Even if sometimes Ignis and Gladio seemed to see themselves more like parental figures. Prompto supposed that was okay.

Still staring up at the sky, Prompto frowned as his mind started settling a bit and he remembered more about his current predicament. Was his arm still injured? Had Ignis done what he said he was going to do? Was everyone else asleep now? All the panic and energy finally settled and done with?

It hadn't taken long after Ignis gave him the sleeping potion for Prompto to lose consciousness. One minute he was staring nervously at Noctis as his vision started looking a bit warped and he began to feel dizzy... and now he was here, waking up, staring at the silent, peaceful sky. He hadn't felt a thing as the man stitched him up. It almost felt unreal. Was it really all over? Was he fixed?

Swallowing a dry gulp, Prompto looked down, raising his arm up closer to his face. The limb was wrapped neatly in a white bandage. There wasn't even any blood coming through. That meant Iggy must have stitched him up well. That was good. He guessed his chest was probably wrapped up too. He looked down again, blinking as he noticed a large hand resting there over the blanket, covering most of his upper chest... The hand was attached to a heavily tattooed arm. It was Gladio.

Prompto looked up, finding that he was lying on the man. His head wasn't on an unusually firm pillow. It was Gladio's thigh. The larger man's head hung forward slightly. Prompto could see by the light of the fire that the his friend's eyes were closed. His breathing was slow and even. He was asleep.

"He's sorry he got mad." Noctis's voice commented from across the fire.

Prompto blinked and looked toward him. He hadn't realized the other man was sitting there.

"And he's sorry he yelled at you..." Noctis went on.

Swallowing, Prompto looked back up at Gladio's face with a frown. The man was letting Prompto use him as a pillow... after Prompto flat out hit him. The younger man had felt so frantic and cornered in that moment. "I can't believe I punched him..." He noted in a small voice.

"Yeah..." Noctis let out a laugh. "I sorta can't believe you did that either... But he's not mad. He understands you were scared. He actually said he felt really bad for scaring you - for being so forceful. I for one think it was long overdue. He's always losing his temper. Kinda cool to see somebody finally punch him." Noctis laughed again, clearly joking.

Prompto frowned, feeling sort of guilty for making Gladio feel bad. The man had only been trying to help, and Prompto was the one who punched him for it. Gladio shouldn't have felt bad. Prompto could have just calmly refused his help... but then, Prompto did tell him to back off first, and he didn't... and Gladio had to have seen how scared Prompto was. Like out of his mind, trapped wild animal scared. Prompto hadn't even put thought into punching him. It was like an instinct.

"He gets it, Prompto. Don't be too hard on yourself." Noctis commented. "He's seriously not mad. He told Iggy you were right to punch him... that he was unintentionally really aggressive with you while you were already panicking... He was panicked too."

"He was?" Prompto blinked, glancing back up at Gladio's face again. "I thought I was the only one panicking, making a huge deal outta nothing..." He forced a breathless laugh. He really had been absolutely overwhelmed tonight, fearing-for-his-life overwhelmed. He clearly over-reacted. The issue was fixed with a potion, some stitches, and a few bandages... And Prompto had acted like he thought he was going to die.

"We were all panicked, Prompt. You scared the hell out of us." Noctis frowned.

"I did?" Prompto felt his eyebrows knit together with worry as he stared across at his friend. He hadn't meant to make people worry. Of course, he hadn't meant for any of this to go wrong... but they had enough to worry about already without Prompto making it all worse by being reckless and getting himself hurt.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault... We were all just scared. I'm sure it wasn't obvious in all our cases. Ignis and I always keep our cool more than you two." Noctis nodded toward Gladio and Prompto.

Prompto let out a small laugh. "That's true." He agreed. "I get kinda worked up sometimes, don't I? And he definitely does." He nodded up toward Gladio.

Noctis laughed and nodded. "He was really worried about you... I know you both give each other a hard time, but he really cares about you a lot. Don't tell him I told you this, but he held your hand the whole time Ignis was stitching you up, and he kept going on and on about being sorry for scaring you, saying he needed to work on being more gentle and tactful. He was so worried about you."

Prompto felt a small smile twitching at the corners of his mouth as he looked up at Gladio's peaceful, sleeping face again. "Really?" He glanced back toward Noctis.

"Of course." Noctis nodded. "And again... don't tell him. He wouldn't want anyone accusing him of being a big softie... But he definitely is."

Prompto smiled and closed his eyes for a moment. He still felt so tired.

"Prom..." Noctis spoke up again after a second.

"Yeah?" Prompto whispered softly, keeping his eyes closed as he felt sleep edging at his mind again.

"I want to thank you for saving me back there. I don't know if I really thanked you earlier... But thank you. I promise you didn't screw up." Noctis noted in a low voice. "I could have died if you weren't watching my back... You said something before about this being your fault - because you weren't paying attention... But we're all supposed to be looking out for each other. You did that. I didn't. I didn't watch your back, and I'm sorry for that."

Prompto blinked his eyes back open and looked across the fire at his friend. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to say. Noctis looked like he genuinely felt bad, like he truly meant it when he blamed himself for this...

"I just... I don't want you to feel like you screwed up when that monster was like this close to eating me and you called out, alerting me that it was there... You legitimately may have saved my life. I don't consider that a mistake on your part at all. I do fault myself for not paying you the same attention from the start. I promise to do better watching your back from here." Noctis nodded.

Prompto forced a small laugh. "It's not a big deal..." He breathed, feeling completely unsure how to respond to such a heartfelt apology he was unsure he deserved. Sure, they were all supposed to watch out for each other, but Prompto always seemed to be the one falling over cliffs, getting into the center of battles when he was the one with a weapon that allowed him to fight safely from a distance. He was more reckless than the others. That wasn't their fault.

"It is. We all owe it to each other to watch out for each other. I'll do better from here. And Gladio sure as hell will." He added with a laugh.

"Thanks, Noct." Prompto spoke in a low voice. He supposed he could accept the offer, the apology, even if he wasn't sure he deserved it. People made mistakes, and whether this was fully his fault, partially, or not at all, it didn't really matter. What was important was that the four of them were all here, all safe, all together.

"I take it I'm not gonna lose my arm?" Prompto laughed, quickly changing the subject.

Noctis shook his head. "Ignis did a great job stitching it up. He was really careful."

Prompto smiled. "He always is." He noted, closing his eyes and letting himself relax under Gladio's secure, but gentle hold.

He was really lucky to have such a strong bond with these men. They were all there for a reason - to protect Noct, to make sure he got to where he needed to be safely... but their purpose was also to protect each other, and really, they did a great job at it. Mistakes were bound to happen, but overall, they had responded to this one well. They were going to be okay, and as long as they all remained together, Prompto felt pretty sure things would always be fine, one way or another.

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The End

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My next story is on its way! It deals with teenage Prompto, Ardyn, and Verstael... It's pretty rough and traumatic - similar to Code Word: Chocobo, but even more harsh considering Prompto is a teen still - a child. He goes through hell in it, I assure you. It's going to be pretty long - around 80,000 words as of now - and I'm close to the end of the editing process (I think...) So please stay tuned!!


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